When Car Showrooms Persist on Displaying Social Class Divisions

To get a clearer understanding of the class system and its effect on cultural consumption, I visited the Nissan car showroom and took some pictures to show the distinction between different class categories in Qatar.

In the Nissan showroom there were the smallest forms of family cars like the Nissan Tida.

Then bigger cars like the Nissan Sunny and Nissan Altima.

Then there were race cars like the 350Z and the Nissan Maxima.

Then there were varying sizes of CUVs starting from the small Nissan Juke and including Nissan Qashqai up until the Nissan Xtrail and Nissan Murano.

Finally, the biggest forms of SUVs ranged from the Nissan Xterra and Nissan Armada up until the Nissan Patrol, being the biggest and most expensive SUV.

All the different cars I mentioned had their own divisions like X, S, SE and ES that range in the available options and price as well. However, these cars are not the whole collection of Nissan yet, there is on the other side of the showroom another brand owned by Nissan called Infiniti.

Infiniti is the Luxury brand of Nissan. In the Infiniti showroom there were also cars that vary in size. Almost all the Infiniti cars are based on one of Nissan’s cars platforms and redesigned to attain luxury. For example, the Nissan Patrol has its Infiniti equivalent the QX56.

The Nissan Murano has its Infiniti equivalent the JX.

Looking at the whole spectrum of all cars from the Nissan Tida up until the most expensive Infiniti QX56, I began to understand class systems. In a class system people are stratified according to characteristics such as income, occupation and educational degree. The class system is made up of different social classes who are a group of people who share a similar position in society based on wealth, education, and occupational prestige. The social class of an individual determines their occupation in the society in terms of family relations, politics, physical health and mental health. However, what this blog is interested in is how can social class determine a person’s consumption of culture? Cultural consumption is the reception, interpretation and experience of various types of culture. Differences in cultural consumption are socially constructed so that they can help maintain socio-economic class boundaries.

Buying a Nissan Tida is always associated with new expatriates who join Doha, just starting their journey with low income. Then the Nissan Altima is associated with older expats especially young men who like a sporty looking car but can only afford a big salon. Then Nissan Patrol is associated with an average Qatari family household since its good in the desert and can carry the big family on one vehicle. The inside of the Patrol has a fancy interior with expensive leather seats and mind dizzying features on its dashboard. However for upper class Qataris, an expensive fancy-looking Patrol with a huge spectrum of features may not be enough. Hence, Infinities with their especially-made luxurious designs and endless features appeal to upper-class men in power.

In sociology, buying normal Nissan cars can be called lowbrow cultural consumption, which is the mass culture stereotypically associated with lower and working classes. However, buying an Infiniti is highbrow cultural consumption of fine arts that are only consumed by the affluent classes.

What is considered highbrow versus what is considered lowbrow changes from a community to a community. For example, in Egypt where I come from, owning a Nissan SUV is considered highbrow culture consumption. Maybe in Nigeria, owning a car in the first place, regardless of its make, can be highbrow culture consumption. However, in Qatar owning a Nissan is lowbrow to many affluent classes. Even Infiniti can be considered lowbrow for elite Bentley owners.

The distinction between lowbrow and highbrow also changes with time. For Example, a Qatari friend told me that buying a Japanese car was considered lowbrow for all Qataris twenty years ago, even if it was a Land Cruiser. It was seen like buying a Kia today in Qatar. However, with time, Japanese cars, especially the luxurious brands, turned into highbrow.

The idea of choosing a car to buy explains the concept of conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous consumption is an attempt to display class and status through the purchase or consumption of high culture and luxury goods or services. Indeed a Nissan Tida has luxurious options when compared to cars you would see in a poor developing country: it has air condition, an entertainment system, ample space to seat five people, some built in safety, and low fuel consumption. However, rich people would buy an Infiniti just for the sole idea to be distinct and be recognizable by their social class wherever they go. I can easily claim that most Infiniti owners know less about its features, than what they know about the looks and the social status associated with them.

Qatari Values through Local Food

For this blog, I will take a closer look at some of the traditional foods eaten in Doha and the Gulf Area, and how the traditions surrounding them reflect the values of the people of this area.

Some of the more popular foods that Arabs of the Gulf eat more often than others include Machboos and Biryani. If you ever happen to dine at an Arabic restaurant, you do not want to miss out on machboos rice with Hamour (species of fish) or Biryani rice with prawns. The pictures below feature these two exquisite foods.





Although it seems like forever ago, I remember a time when having lunch at home was not just about eating food. About ten years and before that, when lunch time came, my family members and I would all gather to eat at the same time from the same huge plate. Back then, lunch time was a special time for all family members to meet and communicate. This union of all family members to have lunch together symbolized our Gulf society’s emphasis on collectivism and the significance we put on our social groups, at least at that time. Nowadays, the only time my family members and I have a chance to eat lunch altogether is on some Fridays. Even when we do eat together, we no longer eat from the same huge plate like we did years back then.

After some thought, I realized that this shift in our behavior is the result of our different day-to-day schedules. Half of my brothers and I no longer go to school. We are all so occupied with our private issues and personal interests, such as academic or career-oriented matters, that we no longer have a chance to meet as a group like we used to. This marks a shift in our behavior from collectivism to individualism. However, this does not imply that I or anyone else necessarily prefers to be isolated and alienated from his or her family members. I see it as an effect of capitalism. We are merely doing what our age requires from us, as today’s capitalist society values economic activity, specifically that which allows a person to earn a better living, thus achieving social mobility and moving up the social status ladder.

The Deviant in Space

I happen to be a Freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar, and had to take a Foundation class called Space Research. For our final project for that class, we were asked to design prostheses for our own bodies to enhance a certain function, or to make our body perform an action that it normally would not. An Attachment with two mirrors to see the back of your head, for example.

Now prosthetics normally are primarily meant for those people in the society who are given the social status of disabled.  Yet, we were made to think of our own fully capable bodies as imperfect. I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that, but, regardless, it was deviant thinking for the sake of good design.

I took a good look at myself and came up with this idea: finger extensions with wheels on the ends. Here's a picture!

Seemingly, a ridiculous thing, but it served my purpose well. Why? Because, whenever I am around someone I am close with, my hands tend to want to play or touch them or tug at their clothes – a terrible habit that usually ends with me the other person screaming and giving me horrified looks (unless they’re used to it). Sociology would very formally refer to this as informal negative sanctions. 

The prosthesis I would design would enable me to…well…not touch anyone by being too busy trying to keep control of the contraption on my left hand. Win-win situation for everyone, yes?

I took my half-constructed prosthesis to a mall once just to see people’s reactions, but surprisingly, I only received a few looks now and again in spite of the deviant nature of the object. No sanctions from security, nor anyone coming up to me to ask what that is, or trying to take pictures. It is possible that the shoppers were already used to seeing deviants inside of malls. We’ve experienced that a few times in and around Doha.

...Or it could have been that I was just ignoring everybody too well.

However, at VCUQ, it was quite different. Many times, when I would walk by wearing them, people would stop me to ask me about the project. I’m thinking the difference between the reactions of the two groups was two things--

First off, they were different groups with different interests. One was larger, and mainly focused on their shopping, while the other was comparatively smaller and an active participant in ‘deviant design’ and in engaging with whoever was involved.

Second, it was the space/environment they were in. The mall was a large, open space surrounded by many attractive, luxury items. Also, it was what people had come to look at, primarily. My project didn’t fit the bill, even if it did make a few heads turn. It just wasn’t enough.

The university, on the other hand, is full of projects like mine on display, and the social group in there typically strives to make their work as deviant as they can manage. They were able to recognize my project and offered me more curiosity because the prosthesis was more uhh ‘involved’ with the space. In other words, it made perfect sense for it to be there.

It was definitely very interesting to see what placing one object in two different spaces would do to people. Now I only wish I could try and interchange those two groups by putting them in each other’s environment. Would it give me the same results?


I'm sure most of the regular readers have seen the video of the flash mob at the City Centre Mall that appeared out of the crowd and started dancing to Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger. So I'll leave you with a different flash mob video clip from July last year at Villaggio Mall:

Loving how they melt from the crowd and gradually grow in number~ Till next time!

AnimeQtr Event

Last week an Anime event has been held in VCUQ's atrium. The event was organized by a group of people, some were students from education city, and some others out of education city(they formed a group in FB long time before planning the event)  And I got the chance to participate in the event by selling my artworks/drawings.

The event mainly consisted of different events where people would gather and solve quizzes, play video games, or show their artwork or sell goods.

I noticed that at the event, people basically didn't know one another, yet they've interacted with each other as if they knew each other for a long time. I'm going to try to see it in a sociological way, and that these people bonded with each other without much thinking(which lead us to social interaction, a method of way people interact with one another.) They formed an in-group; group of people who share same interests(which is interest in Japanese animations and cartoons in this case.) and they're also classified as otakus(which is a term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly, anime, manga, and video games.)

I think these people were acting very friendly with one another because they shared the same social status or position at that event, they all got the chance to cosplay, participate in the events there of video game tournament and some quizzes. And also as fans. They probably wouldn't have acted the same way if they were around people of different interest(I know I wouldn't) they know that not everyone is interested in anime and even some people consider anime fans "weird"(I actually heard that from a classmate just before the event started, and I became defensive, because I'm also a fan of anime, so thats the solidarity that I felt with other anime fans) and I'm going to quote what that person said to another person while talking about the event, " I've never really seen an anime fan that's normal, they all act weird."
Since I participated in this event as a person who sells their work, I got to meet different people. It was really interesting to see that even though they all share same interest, they came to me with different motivations. Some people came to talk to me about business opportunities, while some others wanted to buy my work, and some just wanted to look at what I had. Even though they shared the same interest, they were all different.

Finally, I want to say that I think the event was a really successful one, it's the first of its kind in Qatar, even though it was not sponsored it was a success alhamdulel-Allah. Plus what I also think made the event succeed was the big number of people who gathered for it (I believe more than five-hundred people visited VCUQ that day/night) I think it's just that when people share the same passion+position, things can work out very well (though people were from different ages and professions, I believe that they were considered equal that day, because they gathered as fans that day, not as professors, students, nor anything else.)
I hope that in the future, more events like this one will be held. It's really nice to see people of the same interest interact with one another.

Identifying the social status of consumers to know their buying decision : a useful tool used by designers

I live in the households of college students. I am cool, trendy and minimalistic. Students find me stylish and friendly. They love spending time with me and look up to me for ideas. Students say to me that the greyish silver suit, which I wear usually to university, looks good and matches with my personality. It makes me look handsome, honorable and slim.

I am also a best partner for all the design professionals. My compatibility and hardworking ability inspires them. I allow them to multi-task and give them a clear view of the latest up to date information. They consider me crisp and clean.

For many businessmen, I speak of elegance, efficiency and intelligence. I am a commodity that is most sought after. Therefore, I keep working hard to keep up with the pace and inform them about the latest and upcoming trends.”  Mr. Mac Book Pro.

This was an exercise that we did in our graphic design class in order to identify the target audience behind a product. It was important to analyze what our consumers wanted, observing what social status they belonged too, and then start an advertising campaign for it. When I chose Mac Book Pro as my object of study, I described its character that fits to certain groups of people who have similar social status. Social status is the recognition attached to one’s position in society. It can be either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed statuses are those that are inherited at birth like gender, age and ethnic identity. While as achieved status is earned by living in the society. Like for example name, profession, income, education, civil and marital status are terms that we accomplish from our surroundings. I began by analyzing three target audiences: college students, design professionals and businessmen - and took their specific qualities to see how this object, defined as a character, socializes with them.

Furthermore, I interviewed some college students, design professionals and businessmen to see how their master status (dominant position) plays an intense role in their parts of life. By viewing the consumer’s characteristics, like their opinions, attitudes, interests, hobbies, needs, values and lifestyle I could easily motivate consumers to be friends with my character Mr. Mac Book Pro. This exercise helped me in designing an advertising campaign that was persuasive and targeted my audience. 

Similarly, with Nescafé, (my second object of study for the same exercise) I suggested a different name to my character according to its unique personality that targets a certain audience.

A slim young women with dirty blonde hair and a great athlete, Nariana knows how to take care of her physique. She is a health and fitness advisor, who not only conducts morning shows, (being a morning person) where she teaches exercises but also answers calls and gives the viewers beauty tips according to their skin type. In one of her interviews Nariana says " In order to live longer one should wake up early, do yoga, train and after taking a shower treat yourself to some healthy food." I think this best describes her true personality because she is always so active, full of energy, fresh and smells beautiful. Wearing a pure golden ring on her finger with fully manicured nails, Nariana looks fabulous. 

In this exercise, I had given Nescafé a different name and a character so that she could easily mingle with a young and active age group. This group believes in waking up early in the morning, starting fresh with their daily chores and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

These exercises not only helped me design an effective campaign but also enhanced my power of observation and understanding of different social statuses that reflects on the consumer’s buying decisions. It also made me see how sociologists can divide people in groups according to specific social statuses, and see the buying power towards a particular product or brand. In sociology there have been a lot of discussions and in depth case studies on the social status of a person to identify their buying decision. Below here is a video that will further help to define my point of view to you.

The significance of Ethnicity

The world today identifies an individual by reading their I.D (identification card). However, not all people feel understood by the limited information provided in that piece of plastic. The cultures in our society have developed this sense of insecurity because of their different perspectives. There are three kinds of sociology concepts or theories, though this social issue is an example of a symbolic interaction.

The reason why I chose this topic is because I have experienced a case of nationality misjudgment for a long time, and it has created a scar within my mind, allowing me to feel insecure in society on a daily basis. People approach me and ask me “where I’m from?” There is no harm to answer the question, but when people make assumptions about my race I get paranoid. I am ashamed when people assume I could be from Kerela or Srilanka, which I am not. There is no reason to be demoralized, but the media has portrayed discriminating points of view for these cultures.

Culture is the way of life of a person, and this video discriminates the accent of the people of this country, and some aspects of their life style, which does not apply to everyone. What is intriguing is that the people who are making the video are from that country. Stereotypes portray many cultural downfalls on Youtube. Thus, some people dislike the label of a country that is not appreciated. A third component of a nonmaterial culture is norms, and it is an obvious norm to refuse an assumption of being classified a wrong ethnicity. The social situation that provokes this behavior is grasped from media. People are proud to be of a race that is looked up upon. Media has and will always influence the way we look at a person’s social status.

Modern (Not) Versus Traditional

Since this week’s reading was about family, I decided to observe the socialization found in my own family. In class we discussed how in most societies there is a stereotype of the father being the breadwinner and the mother being the one who stays home and takes care of home-related topics. In the U.S, this has become less common and moreover, many countries are moving farther away from this ideology. In my blog post, I will talk about how being brought up in an Arab home has affected the way I think when it comes to family related matters.

In my own family, I notice that my parent’s roles are alike in some aspects but are different in others. For example, both of my parents are employed however, they have very different household responsibilities. My father is the one who provides us with a house but my mother turns it into a home. My father provides us with a quality education by enrolling us into the best schools but my mother comes home from work and helps us with our homework. Simply put, my father pays bills and my mother pays attention.

Growing up in a semi-traditional, semi-modern Arab family, I formed specific assumptions concerning what my role would be as a wife and mother and what my future husband’s roles would be as a husband and father. I know that as an Arab woman I am expected to know how to cook, clean and take care of the children at a minimum. Additionally, I am expected to work since more and more women of my generation are entering the workforce. I am expected to marry a man of the same social status as that of my own family or higher. My future husband is expected to have received an education equivalent to or higher than that of the one I did. He is also expected to be a workingman who can provide for his family by ensuring a house for them, good education for his children, and a comfortable lifestyle in general.

     

After taking a closer look into my own family, I realized how I am influenced by the modernization found in my generation yet still connected to my Arab roots. Societies are in fact shifting away from the old stereotype of the male being the breadwinner and the female being the home caretaker. However, they are not completely letting go of their traditional views.

System of Untouchability

More than 160 million people in India are considered Untouchable – people tainted by their birth into a caste system that deems them impure and less than human.

Indian caste system is a system of social stratification in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called jatis. The values and ethics are strongly held by the people belonging to the castes. Their life chances, context, choices and social status in the society largely depended on their caste. There are 5 different levels of the Indian caste system followed over years:-

The untouchables or dalit faced non prejudiced discrimination and were not considered as citizens. Historically, they were associated to odd jobs such as butchering, removal of waste and animal carcasses. They were called untouchable as they were not allowed to come in contact with the other castes. This system has worked in Indian history. But present-day India forbids discriminating and practicing untouchability. Along with this law the government allows positive discrimination of the depressed classes in India. But positive discrimination have created new problems in the Indian society.

The video below is a brief description on the prejudice and discrimination faced by the dalits. The video gives us examples of movements held to destroy the system of untouchability.



Indians have become more flexible in their caste customs. In urban India, the people are less strict about the caste system than the rural. The biggest challenge in India is to overcome the violent clashes connected to caste tensions in remote villages. This will be a big leap to a more developed India.

Marhaba!

Al-Salam Aleekum. This is how we begin to greet people in our culture, translating to “peace be upon you.” The way people greet each other differs from one culture to another. Even within the same culture, there are different ways to greet people. These ways differ in regards to age, gender, and relationship to one another.



When focusing specifically to the Qatari culture, each house or family member has his or her own way of saying hello. Within my nuclear family, the way I greet my family members is very informal, and is different every time. This differs when greeting others. For example, personally, I usually answer phone calls saying “Al-Salam Aleekum” instead of hello. However, in face-to-face communication, the way I greet a person that is my age is different than an elderly person. Out of respect, we kiss the head of those elderly people of the same gender, even if they are not related to us. However, if they were my female and are my age, I would either shake hands or do the cheek greeting, or even hug them.



Let’s talk about the male/female differences in greetings. It is socially unacceptable and is considered deviant to do the cheek greeting with the opposite gender. If it was any of my brothers, my uncles, or father, then it is socially and religiously acceptable. For other males, I would usually just greet them by eyes or by a handshake, even though handshakes are religiously unacceptable. However, since a lot of people do it now, it is not seen as an act that deviates away from the norms to some people.



Also, it is important to note that we usually greet people differently depending on the occasion or the place we are at, on the people we are with, and on their social status. In weddings for example, it is more formal. Therefore, we usually stick to either the handshake or the cheek. In a birthday party, we usually hug each other, as the place is informal.



Another way of greeting people that is very common in Qatar among the guys is the nose greeting. Men tend to greet each other by the nose. It sounds funny, but it happens a lot here in our culture, and is seen a normal behavior.

"The walk for life", Formal organization with a cause

In sociology a formal organization is defined as being a type of secondary group which people create as a coordinating mechanism to achieve a planned outcome. They are viewed as such because they bring together people and resources that when worked together will achieve the desired outcome.
People all over Qatar shed their regular attire for bright pink t-shirts, as they took part in a walk along Doha’s Corniche to raise breast cancer awareness in our Qatari community.

“The walk of life" channels human activity toward achieving an outcome which supports a mutual interest and meets important human needs, all for a non-profit goal. First of all, it was a voluntary organization. People attended the walk to donate their time and effort in achieving the ultimate goal of raising awareness  to the masses. The people who attended the cause were a mix of everything from different nationalities to different social statuses. This was definitely a secondary group because of the fact that everyone gathered for a specific purpose which was to take part in the walk that would use that awareness to aid in the prevention, early detection, and treatment of breast cancer.

However there were many differences that the walk of awareness had to formal organizations. It might be apparent but people walked together in large groups which even though the majority didn't know each other they were brought together by a common purpose. The notion of “McDonaldization” was not put into the extremes since the walk was to raise awareness unlike a production line of creating products as efficiently as possible. Efficiency and how fast or slow people walked was up to the people themselves since everyone who joined the walk was there voluntarily.

Rituals derived from Historic Values

We see certain gestures made by us, and the people surrounding us everyday. We define those gestures as “cultural rituals”. However, there was once u a meaning behind those gestures, and with time it evolved as a ritual.



“Ardha” an Arabic word meaning a “performance”. Ardha started off being a dance practiced after a winning a battle as an expression of freedom and happiness. It was seen as a “victory dance”. The “victory dance”, evolved into a performance practiced at celebrations. It’s a male dominated dance performed by raising swords or weaponry in the air. Inevitably the type of sword determines a tribe’s social status. Clothing distinguished by class and status, moreover there are rules and regulations to the dress code:-

1) Thob Shalahat: That is thob with long sleeves.


2) AlDagla: A garment worn over the thob. Made from a luxurious fabric with elaborate ornamentations. Gold and silver threads were profoundly used to highlight status.


3) AlBasht: Worn at “Ardhas” as well as in formal gatherings symbolizing rank and social status.




4) Belts: That is to place weapons.


A man can also go wearing only “thob” as long as he looks neat and represent his family in an upmost manner.

Unfair

Are we born with a given social status? The answer to this question is yes. Each individual is born with a given status that is inherited. Classes tend to reproduce themselves over time. You are likely to be the same class as your parents. However, with time, you may experience a social mobility, going upward or downward in a social class system.



To relate to this idea, I recently had a wedding to attend. Therefore, I had to call a beauty technician to come over. Her name is Shevani. Shevani comes from a relatively low social class in Pakistan. When she came over, she got her whole kit with her in a small bag. Her English is perfect. I’m not sure why, but I found this to be very surprising to me, as most of the ones that work in salons here in Doha have broken English. I was very curious to know what her previous job was.



Whenever I decide to ask her about her English language, I hesitate doing so since it might offend her. Last time she came over she brought up the subject without me having to ask her. Shevani was talking about education and asked me when my Northwestern graduation is. Then she went on talking about her younger sisters that studied with her at the same school, but each of them had completely different personalities. Shevani was the one that got the excellent grades, and won several awards including the top in her country. Her sister’s classmates would keep asking her sister why couldn’t she be similar to Shevani.



Due to her high grades, she applied to one of the top prestigious universities in the UK and got accepted. Nevertheless, due to her social class, she was refused to go by the government. Curiosity was killing me, so I asked her why? She replied by saying that if they check that her bank account has less than 50,000 riyals, they would automatically refuse to let her go. Their belief is that if she goes to the UK she will reside there and get a well-paid job instead of pursuing her education and back.



I then asked her why she chose this job. She replied by saying that she loves the Qatari culture, and that all the customers she has are very nice. Shevani is very well educated but is socially stratified into this job. If she did go to the UK, she would experience a social mobility, going higher up the hierarchy. Nonetheless, since she does not have a university degree, her choices are limited.

Judging by the cover

Judging someone by what they look like isn’t the right thing to do, in fact it is completely shunned against, but that does not necessarily mean that people actually follow that rule. On the contrary, it is a completely natural reaction for people to look at a passerby and quickly make assumptions about that person’s personality or profession and will immediately have something to say whether good or bad.

The eyes can reveal so much about a person and in great depth may I add. Just by looking at the way someone interacts with people, you can receive indications about that person’s personality.  

People, (and me personally) tend to critic what we see, and that is usually the way that person dresses or how he or she carries him/herself. It is incredible the amount of information you can get just by the wardrobe that that person has on. Whether it may be a uniform or a certain motif that connects him or her to an organization or an in-group if you will, you can get a sense of that person’s role and identify their position within the society.

When observing people you can naturally tell that persons age (in some cases that is), ethnicity, race and sometimes even their nationality. These elements all fall into the category of an ascribed status which simply means that they are social statuses that we are given at birth and are rigidly assigned to us without our personal choosing. Another example of that is our family background; we do not choose our families but are born into them.

In contrast, an achieved status is a social position which we as individuals have the freedom to pick and choose a role or position that ultimately best defines us and reflects our personality to others. Examples on these statuses are job occupations such as a doctor, fire fighter, teacher, student, worker, business man and many others.

These uniforms are status symbols. They identify what you are in the society. A high ranking officer is known from the amount of the merits he has accumulated and that are displayed on his uniform. A student is identified by his school uniform in the aforementioned school colors and so on.  Uniforms are a big part of our daily lives and they provide a sense of order to our life. We get dressed in certain “uniforms” depending on the roles we play and the places we go. A business man would dress in a smart suit and tie to his morning job and would probably slip into something more comfortable if and when the scene changes.  

Usually when it comes to sport teams, such as basketball and football, the members of the in-group are dressed in the same uniform and work together as one. Other examples of in-groups are the military or the army where there are groups of officials dressed in the same uniform and are working together to make the team function correctly and efficiently.

Status symbols can be very important in times of crises, because we can usually spot out the person we want really quickly. In the case of a robbery we can spot a police man a mile away from the car he drives and by the uniform he wears.